It was all for the sake of fun Saturday as children, parents and community members gathered for an open house at the Boys & Girls Club of Baraboo/Sauk County.

Things were abuzz outside the Baraboo Civic Center, home to the club, as they celebrated what organizers called America's Day for Kids. Local firefighters, police and paramedics had their equipment on display and an air-filled trampoline was packed with bounding children. Inside, kids enjoyed basketball games and demonstrations, a performance of hip-hop dancing, games, crafts and a magic show.

In an ambulance, Baraboo Paramedic Jason Tucker attached a blue clip to the finger of young Baraboo resident Amanda Dent, 4. The "pulse-ox" machine told him she had a blood oxygen level well above 90 percent, a healthy reading.

Tucker connected wires to the shoulder and ankle of another young girl with sticky pads, then showed the children how an electrocardiograph could measure their heart function.

Ambulance service Executive Director Terry Wise said the children find the equipment used by emergency personnel fascinating, and he hopes having contact with it in a casual, non-emergency situation will benefit the emergency workers, as well.

"There's always a natural, inherent fear of getting into a big box on the back of a truck," he said. "If we can get them in and they see what we do, if they are unlucky enough to have to call an ambulance, they're not afraid of us."

Amanda's mother, Michelle Dent, said they came to enjoy a music performance and the festivities in general.

"She's very active," she said. "She likes to do everything."

Amanda didn't understand what the clip on her finger was about, but she cheerfully declared "It was good." She said she also particularly liked the music performance by children's entertainer David Landau of Madison.

"I had fun today," Amanda said.

Upstairs in the club room, balls clacked and kids yelled playing games, while others sat quietly getting their face painted or making handicrafts with materials set out on tables. Members of a competition cheer leading squad for young girls, The Silver Devil All Stars, demonstrated cheers and lofted one of their number high over their heads.

Baraboo residents Jared Beder, 10, and his brother, Morgan Beder, 8, made colorful designs with beads, then fixed the design in place by melting it with an iron.

Their mom, Barb Beder, and grandmother, Bonny Ihlenfeld of West Bend, said they appreciated the Boys & Girls Club program.

"We love it. The kids love it here a lot," Barb said. "It help us, my husband and I, with what to do with the kids after school."

The club is a safe place they can spend time with friends and do fun things until their father can pick them up after work," she said.

Ihlenfeld said she likes the fact that club activities include setting time aside to help the children do their homework.

The Day for Kids is a special celebration founded by the Boys & Girls Clubs nationally, said Sarah Resch, interim executive director.

"Mothers have a day, fathers have a day, and today is America's Day for Kids," she said. "It's just a time to get the kids and families out to play and interact with each other and have fun."

After the difficult time the club had in late 2007 that required it to shutdown, club operations are going well, Resch said. They raised enough money for this year's budget and part of the funds they need for 2009.

"We are financially stable," she said. "Fundraising for 2009 and 2010 is starting in just a few weeks."

The Boys & Girls Club of Baraboo/Sauk County operates Monday through Friday, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and hosts children ages 6 to 18, Resch said. They are working to establish a teen center to give older club members a separate place for themselves.

For information about the club, call (608) 355-2582; or go to the local club's Web site at www.bgcbsc.org